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The twin-engine turboprop plane was flying from Cascavel in the southern state of Parana to Guarulhos airport in Sao Paulo when it crashed in the town of Vinhedo, Wolpass said.
Videos circulating on social media showed a plane plummeting and spiraling as it fell.
The ATR 72-500 aircraft was carrying 57 passengers and four crew members. Local authorities said there were no survivors on board.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed his condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
Sao Paulo state governor Tarcisio Gomez de Freitas declared three days of mourning.
Authorities said the flight recorders had been recovered and French-Italian plane maker ATR said it would cooperate with the investigation.
The plane landed in a residential area, but no one on the ground was injured.
Officials said only one home in a local apartment complex was damaged.
The video showed a massive fire in an area filled with houses and smoking debris everywhere.
Police and fire departments have arrived at the scene.
The plane left Cascavel at 11:56 local time (14:56 GMT), according to tracking website Flightradar24. The last signal from the plane was about an hour and a half later.
Brazil’s civil aviation agency said the plane was manufactured in 2010 and was “in good operating condition, with valid registration and airworthiness certificates”.
All four crew members on board held valid licenses and qualifications at the time of the incident.
The Uopeccan Cancer Hospital in Cascavel told BBC Brazil that the dead included two of its interns.
Local residents witnessed the moment the plane crashed.
“When I heard the plane going down, I looked out the window of my house and saw the moment the plane crashed,” Felipe Magales told Reuters, adding that the scene left him “terrified.”
Another resident, Nathalie Cicari, told CNN Brazil that she was having lunch when she heard “a very loud noise nearby,” which she described as being like a drone but “much louder.”
“I walked out onto the balcony and saw the plane was spinning. After a few seconds I realised this was not a normal movement of an aircraft.”
It was the worst air disaster in Brazil since 2007, when a TAM Express plane crashed and caught fire at Sao Paulo’s Congonhas airport, killing 199 people.
President Lula spoke at the event and expressed condolences to the victims.
He told the audience: “I have to bring very bad news and I want everyone to stand and let’s have a minute’s silence.”
He posted on social media that the news of the crash was “sad.” He said: “My deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims.”
The local government said the nearby town of Valinhos had sent 20 rescue workers to the crash site as part of a joint operation.
“We deployed 20 personnel, including three vehicles of the Valinhos Civil Guard and one vehicle of the Civil Protection Forces,” Valinhos City Hall said in a statement.
ATR said in a statement that it had been informed of an incident involving an ATR 72-500.
“Our first thoughts are with all the individuals affected by this incident,” the statement said.
“ATR experts are fully committed to investigating and supporting our clients.”
(BBC)
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